A sigh of relief for many Palestinians

News that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire through Egyptian mediation comes as a great relief for many Palestinians. Effective today, the ceasefire, which is being welcomed by both parties with cautious optimism, if not mutual suspicion, will hopefully translate into easing the humanitarian situation in the occupied territories, even if for a few months.

In return, Hamas is expected to ensure that all militants will abide by this agreement and halt all rocket attacks from within Gaza. It is important to note the timing of this truce - following the failure of the US and Israel to isolate Gaza and eventually overthrow the Islamist resistance movement, which of course, won the legislative elections in 2006.

While failing to do so, the humanitarian disaster caused by Western and Israeli blockades has had a severe impact on Palestinian's lives. Everyone, students, hospital patients, small business owners and government workers, suffered tremendously.

They were living in an open-air prison. Not only this, Israeli attacks have been brutal and in the first six months of 2008, Israeli forces killed almost 400 Palestinians, an alarming death toll equalling that of all of 2007.

For their part, Palestinians must focus on their national unity in order to come up with an effective strategy against Israel's deepening occupation and colony construction and expansion.

The latest ceasefire between the two warring parties, Israel and Hamas, indicates that Israeli leaders, although suffering from internal divisions, are starting to realise that they cannot destroy Hamas militarily or re-occupy the whole of the Gaza strip.

Their experience in the 2006 war on Lebanon is relevant here. Whether or not it is going to last is another piece of writing but one thing is for sure, as long as Israel continues to occupy Palestinian land, the chances of a successful and lasting peace agreement are nil.

Ultimately, what is needed is a long-term solution. And the fact is, while any truce is good news, the Palestinians need an end to Israeli occupation.